TRAGIC

RuPaul’s Drag Race Legend Died Days Before Being Discovered

The winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” was found with five empty bags of ketamine.

James Lee Williams, known professionally as The Vivienne, was found dead in their residence in Chester, England, on January 5 with five empty bags of ketamine. Their cause of death was announced on Monday as ketamine-induced cardio-respiratory arrest. The senior coroner for the county of Cheshire announced that Williams’ overdose was accidental. Williams, 32, was found in the bath after their death by their neighbor, Janine Gobold. The inquest determined the star had been dead for “a couple of days.” Five empty bags of what likely contained ketamine were found in the bathroom and bedroom. Williams won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. in 2019, partly for their uncanny impersonation of Donald Trump. They also competed in the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2022 and was the first drag queen to compete in Dancing on Ice. Williams was open about their struggles with drug addiction. On RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K., they shared: “It was party, drugs, but I couldn’t leave the drugs at the party, it was constant for me.” The official Instagram for RuPaul’s Drag Race remembered them as a “beacon of creativity and authenticity.”